Monday, October 4, 2010

I want to talk about it. Whatever it is. I stare at this Swiss Army knife and then I stare some more. It hits me like white lightning. It's perfect. It was manufactured from a sound design, made by people who cared about its quality, forged by hands that craft a million others like it. And they're all perfect. They're made with discipline, and oversight—descending from foresight.

I stare at the multi-tool, the genius of it speaks to me. Strange as that may seem, I can sense it's imbued with greatness, the greatness and ingenuity of humanity. And I want a piece. I've always wanted a piece of that genius.

Whether it's hubris or long-experienced recognition, I'm a smart dude. Yet, I've never completed something as smart as the Swiss Army knife. That saddens me, but doesn't surprise me. At 23, I recount how many times my willpower has failed me, lack of willpower. How many times I've had great ideas with terrible execution. How many times have I competed at something and not tried to identify the goal of the competition?

These ramblings are scarily coherent, and hopefully they don't resonate with any of you. Hopefully anyone reading this feels they've had a more productive life than I've had. Luckily, my life is far from over; this reflection helps me keep the faith that I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Just like my teacher told me in the 1st grade.

As I was at work today (I work at a high school as an IT tech), a student, we will call him Willy, came in and asked if he could stand there for a minute to cool down. He’s a chubby kid, black, and has an attitude. Since it’s blazing freaking hot in Georgia I naturally sympathized with him and told him he could. While I was standing there working on a computer, Willy asked where our clock went. I then proceeded to point behind me and show him where the clock was on the wall. I didn’t think much of it, because he could just be totally oblivious. Then he asked again, I pointed to the clock once more, but Willy asked for a digital clock. Starting to figure out what was going on I cover up all the digital clocks he tried to look at and told him to tell me the time on the real clock. My suspicions proved true and Willy can’t tell time. Trying to help him along I told him that the minute hand was on the 10, he told me it was 3:40 PM. After that it was silent, Willy then asked if I was calling him dumb, naturally I responded by saying no. He kept at it though, this time asking me if it was because he was black that I was doing this to him.

That’s where my point comes into play here. Has our society been so dumbed down and favored that our high school age children can’t even tell time? Is the world becoming so favored that knowing how to read a normal clock is becoming ancient knowledge? To make matters worse people are starting to look at it as a stereotype, just like Willy. Where do you think America is going now?